


Song of the Wren

by Swiggle_muffin



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Character Death, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Minor Violence, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-19 21:06:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7377358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swiggle_muffin/pseuds/Swiggle_muffin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the death of Crawford Starrick at the hands of the Frye twins, Wren Aston, a researcher for the Templars, finds herself in London. Working alongside her father, she becomes part of a plan to rid London of the troublesome Assassins. However, new acquaintances have her questioning her dedication to the order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Cross to Bear

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dream_Dropdistance1232](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dream_Dropdistance1232/gifts).



> My second AC: Syndicate fan fiction, and my first Templar character. Thank you to Natasha for helping me chose the title.

#### Aston household - January 1868

####  _Wren Aston followed her mother down the stairs towards her father's study. The eighteen year old girl was nervous. Her father only ever called for her about important matters, or to scold her. She couldn't think of anything she had done wrong, so it must be the former. Wren took a deep breath and knocked on the large, oak door. She waited a few seconds before she heard her father command that she enter. Slowly, the young girl entered the room. Inside were two well dressed gentleman, one small and chubby, the other tall, dressed in black and purple, with slicked back black hair, and a fancy moustache. If the atmosphere hadn't been so serious, Wren may have laughed at the pair of them. The chubby man was of course her father. But the younger man, Wren didn't recognise. But she stood up straight and smiled politely._  
  
_"Wren. This is Mr Crawford Starrick," her father announced. Ah, Starrick. Of course. Her father's boss._  
_"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr Starrick," Wren said, a little nervously._  
_"The same to you Miss Aston," Starrick replied, holding out his hand for Wren to shake, which she did so, a little cautiously. She couldn't help notice how cold his hands were, much like the expression on his face, despite his generally friendly tone. He gestured for Wren to take a seat, so she did. Then Starrick started asking her questions about herself, and enquiring about the studying Wren had been doing about Assassins and Templars. It was just one of her hobbies, so she was surprised that a businessman like Crawford Starrick was interested in it, particularly information on the British Assassins._  
  
_After the conversation, Starrick asked Wren if she would let him know of any useful information she came across._  
_"In exchange for payment of course," Starrick assured her. "So you will effectively be working for me."_  
_Wren looked at her father in surprise. He didn't say anything, he just shot her back with an expression that told her she did not have a choice in this matter._  
  
_"Well...thank you Mr Starrick," Wren said, hoping her voice didn't give away her shock and confusion. Starrick reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, white velvet pouch, which he handed to Wren._  
_"Take this. A token of our...new found friendship."_  
_Wren looked at her father again, who nodded. Slowly, Wren opened the pouch and shook the contents out into the palm of her hand. She stiffened slightly as the red cross hit her skin. The Templar cross._  
  
_"I trust you know what that is?" Starrick said with little expression. Wren nodded._  
_"Elise de la Serre's necklace," she whispered. "Which she actually got from Jennifer Scott, who was the Assassin Edward Kenway's daughter."_  
_A very tiny, almost unnoticeable smirk crept on to Crawford Starricks face. "You're going to be very useful Miss Aston."_  


###### 

Nine Months Later.

Crawford Starrick was dead. As were nine of his closest allies. Killed by Assassins Wren had warned him about. Now all that was left of the British Templars was herself and her father. Thankfully, they had not been living in London, and it seemed the Assassins were ignorant to their existence.  
  
"So it seems it is just me and thee father," Wren sighed when the news of Starrick's murder reached them.  
"Quite so," her father replied. He looked at her seriously. "Is there anything you know that can help us?"  
"Not really. I've told you all I know," Wren insisted, starting to get nervous by her father's increasing anger.  
"These twins. How will we find them? What do they look like?" he demanded to know.  
"I don't know. Assassins?" Wren shrugged unwisely.  
"What a helpful description."  
  
Wren could feel her eyes stinging with tears. Why was he treating her like she was useless? She'd done everything that had been asked of her. She'd stayed up night after night researching, running herself into the ground, and for what? Crawford Starrick had failed. The Templars ha been bested yet again.  
  
"I don't know what they look like," Wren told her father honestly, sitting down on the closest chair. "I can't tell you anything more than that they are Ethan Frye's offspring."  
"Ethan Frye...He had a second, in command," her father suddenly remembered. "Damn it! What was his name?"  
"George Westhouse," Wren piped up. "But he's off the grid. He's been unheard of since Ferris and Brewster were assassinated."  
  
Mr Aston paced back and forth his study for several minutes, deep in thought. Wren just sat in silence. She fiddled with the red cross hanging around her neck. It felt heavy all of a sudden. She would be lying if she said she hadn't felt a slight sense of relief when she heard of Starrick's death. She'd thought she would be able to forget all this and just get on with her life. But it seemed her father had other plans. They were going to London.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wren Aston arrives in London and is immediately tasked with flushing out the Frye twins. But with little information and no allies, has the young girl bitten off more than she can chew in a city that could swallow her whole?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basically writing this straight after writing chapter one. Hopefully it doesn't seem rushed.

London was just as Wren had expected; loud, busy, even dirty in some places. Street urchins ran around, surprisingly happy Wren couldn't help thinking. There were no black clad Templars on the streets anymore, but the gang Crawford Starrick had been using, The Blighters, were still around, albeit fewer in number. All the gang strongholds had now been taken over by another gang, rumoured to be controlled by the Assassins. Luckily, the Astons did have somewhere to stay. A friend of the family offered his home to them. It was situated by Victoria Station in Westminster.  
  
To get a general feel of things in the city, Mr Aston suggested they take a coach ride round London. He removed his Templar cross patch, and Wren tucked her necklace into her dress so the cross couldn't be seen. Wren couldn't help quite liking her Templar necklace, despite it coming from Crawford Starrick, and despite it meaning she belonged to an order that had proved to be very unpopular. Wren had done enough research about both orders to realise this. Now, as they trundled along through The Strand, she realised she was stuck.  
  
"My, what happened to the Alhambra?" Wren gasped as they passed by the music hall in Leicester Square. It was utterly destroyed by what Wren could only guess as an inferno. Everything was burnt.  
"I think our Assassin friends may be responsible for that," her father replied, shaking his head. "If that's their idea of keeping London safe then God help us all."  
  
Wren had heard about some of the problems in London caused by the Assassins. They clearly thought they were doing the right thing, but failed to look at the bigger picture before taking out one of their targets. The Templars had their faults too though, she knew this, but compared to other Templars Wren had researched, Crawford Starrick had played quite fair in her opinion. All he'd wanted was that damned artefact.  
  
"Did Mr Starrick tell you anything about the Shroud?" Wren asked her father curiously. Pieces of Eden, artefacts that both the Templars and Assassins sought, were not Wren's area of expertise. Starrick had hired another woman, Lucy Thorne, for that. Another person who had lost her life in this war.  
"I know what it does. As for where it is, I'm clueless. Chances are, the Assassins have it now. Which is why we must find these Frye brats as soon as possible," Mr Aston replied seriously. Wren couldn't help giving a little laugh.  
"It won't be easy father. Assassins are trained not to be found," Wren told him, although she couldn't help feeling that these Assassins wanted people to know they were here, especially if the rumours were true, and this new gang was led by them. It was almost like they were showing off.  
"Which is why I want you to go into the city and see what you can find out. Start with the gangs. Bat your eyelashes, show a bit of leg, I don't care. I want information," Mr Aston demanded of his daughter. Wren didn't reply. Her father's words hurt her. It had been a long time since he had treated her as his daughter and not a work colleague. She loved him, but she couldn't help resenting him also.  
  
When the Astons arrived at their new lodgings, Wren was immediately sent back out to find out information on the Frye twins. She decided to do as her father had suggested and ask The Blighters what they knew. She approached a small group of them, who were reluctant to talk to her, even after Wren showed them her necklace. One of the men pointed out that with both Starrick and their leader Maxwell Roth dead, The Blighters no longer worked for the Templars. Besides, they didn't know where the Assassins had their base of operations. To find that out, Wren had to try asking the other gang, The Rooks. All The Blighters could tell her was that the Assassin base was constantly moving. So with this tiny scrap of information, Wren toddled off to find some Rooks. There was a small bunch not too far away. Tucking her Templar necklace away again, Wren tried her luck with those. The gang members stopped talking when they saw Wren approach them, and they looked her up and down curiously.  
  
"Excuse me gentlemen. But would you know where I could possibly find the Frye twins?" Wren asked them, flashing them a sweet smile. All four frowned at her.  
"Who wants to know?" A largely built bald man fired back at her, folding his arms across his chest.  
"Well, I do."  
"And you are...?"  
"Probably another one of Jacob's little admirers," another one joked, causing the other three to laugh. Wren sighed, frustrated. Clearly she wasn't going to get any information out of these jokers. She shrugged and told them it didn't matter. She was a bit worried about going back to her father with no information though.  
  
On her way back to her house, Wren walked by Victoria Station. Suddenly she stopped, and watched one of the trains pull out of the station.  
"The base is constantly moving..."she whispered to herself. At first she'd thought they meant that the Assassins kept changing the location of their base. But it could be more cryptic than that. "They're on a train!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading :)


	3. Four and Twenty Blackbirds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wren digs a little deeper for information about the Assassins, and makes an unexpected friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this has taken so long! I had issues and laptop crashes. But I hope to get back into the flow now.

Wren sat down on a bench on the platform of Victoria Station and unfolded the map of London she's just purchased from the kiosk. There were seven main train stations around London. Victoria, Charing Cross and St. Pancras were dead ends, meaning they were either the start or end of a route. Waterloo Station was the biggest, making it the most likely for any train to pass through, and Canon Street Station was the most central. Luckily for Wren, there was a train leaving for Waterloo in five minutes. She folded up her map and headed to the ticket desk. She still didn't quite know what she was looking for. She knew she could be way off the mark with this train theory, but she didn't have anything else to go on, and she daren't go back to her father with nothing. Wren purchased a ticket for Waterloo Station and hopped aboard the train.

The journey was short and uneventful. Wren made sure to have her Templar cross tucked away into her dress. The less attention brought to that, the better. She disembarked at Waterloo, still having no real idea as to what she was looking for. If the assassins were on a train, how would she even know which one it was? There were two trains in the station when she arrived; a cargo train and a passenger train. Wren sat herself down on a bench, and pretended that she was waiting for someone. Well, she was. But who, she wasn't sure.

Something one of the Rooks had said was still on her mind; "Probably one of Jacob's little admirers!". Who was Jacob? One of the twins? Or a particular popular Rook maybe? Through all her research, Wren hadn't managed to discover the names of Ethan Frye's son and daughter. There wasn't much to go on at all really. They hadn't done much prior to their father's death, and being outside of London and therefore out of the action, Wren didn't really know what they had done since except for kill every one of her allies. She wondered if her father knew their names, and had just neglected to tell her.

"Why's the Boss so nervous anyway? Starrick's dead and gone," Wren suddenly heard a female voice say behind her. The young girl swivelled round slightly until she spotted three Rooks standing just feet away from her. She turned back round, but continued to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Aye, Starrick's dead. But that leaves a space open, don't it? I'm guessing the Boss is just expecting some power hungry Templar to take his place," a burly, bald Rook replied.

"Did anyone ever replace Roth?"

"Not as far as I know. The Blighters will work for anyone now, given the right amount of coin."

"Anyone except the Fryes," the female Rook pointed out. "Anyway, let's get to that pub."

As the Rooks began to leave, Wren gave up on her original plan and decided to follow them. They seemed to indeed be connected to the Frye twins, therefore they would have information, whether they revealed it knowingly or not. Wren wasn't looking forward to going into a pub, but neither was she looking forward to going back to her father with nothing to tell him. She wished she could just go home to her mother, but no. She was part of the order now. She had to do as instructed.

The pub wasn't too far away, but it was just as she'd expected it to be; noisy, smelly, and full of prodominantly male patrons. There was an empty table in the corner of the pub, at which Wren sat down. The Rooks stood by the bar, too far for Wren to hear what they were saying. 'Damn it!' She thought to herself. However, in stroke of luck, the female Rook bought a pint, and wanted somewhere to sit. And for some reason, whether it was because the table was out of the way, or because Wren was on her own, she chose her table.

"Anyone sitting here Love?" The Rook asked, surprisingly politely for what Wren expected of a gang member. Wren shook her head, and the woman sat down opposite her. She took a sip of her pint, then said, "You don't look as if you belong in here."

"I'm new to London. Just having a look round," Wren told her, trying to swallow her nerves. She was afraid that at any minute she would be caught out. "Maybe you could tell me more about the city. You...you look as if you're wearing some kind of uniform."

"You really are new to London, ain't you?" The Rook laughed. "I'm part of a gang. A good one. If you can say that about gangs. We're keeping London safe."

"By killing people? And who exactly gives you your orders?" Wren pressed her. She knew she might be moving too fast, but she just needed something - anything- to tell her father. The female Rook downed the rest of her pint and grinned at Wren.

"Stick around London long enough and you'll see him. He's pretty...eye catching." She stood up, quite quickly, and Wren knew she'd spooked her. "Anyway, I best be off. Maybe I'll see you again."

The Rook left her and joined her friends, and Wren left the pub. She hurried back to her new home. She maybe didn't have any information, but she had a new acquaintance who could be useful.

"It'll do for now," her father grumbled, when his daughter told him the news, and Wren couldn't help feeling hurt by his lack of gratitude. "Use her. I want to know who and where exactly these twins are. Befriend her. Charm her if you must."

"What do you mean by that? Charm her...as if she were a man?" Wren checked, stunned by her father's suggestion. He nodded, unfazed by what he was asking his daughter to do. "Father are you mad?! People get hanged for doing things like that! If I'm caught-"

"Just get on with it," Mr Aston snapped. Wren blinked back her tears.

"I see. Your care more about being Grand Master than the life of your only daughter," she said in almost a whisper. "Very well. I'll do what I must." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and I'm sorry again to anyone who has actually been waiting (probably no-one but I thought I'd apologise anyway.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking the time to read this. Feedback is greatly appreciated, and if you liked it please leave a kudos. I will be updating this story along with my other work A Piece of Eden.


End file.
